Monday, June 10, 2013

Poem for Monday and Maryland Science Center

The ConditionalBy Ada Limón

Say tomorrow doesn't come.Say the moon becomes an icy pit.Say the sweet-gum tree is petrified.Say the sun's a foul black tire fire.Say the owl's eyes are pinpricks.Say the raccoon's a hot tar stain.Say the shirt's plastic ditch-litter.Say the kitchen's a cow's corpse.Say we never get to see it: brightfuture, stuck like a bum star, nevercoming close, never dazzling.Say we never meet her. Never him.Say we spend our last moments staringat each other, hands knotted together,clutching the dog, watching the sky burn.Say, It doesn't matter. Say, That would beenough. Say you'd still want this: us alive,right here, feeling lucky.

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Our Maryland Science Center membership expires in a couple of weeks and our kids have pretty much outgrown it, so we decided to go spend one last day there. We went to our favorite places -- the crabs on the top floor with views of Baltimore's harbor, the dinosaurs on the first floor, the space section where we watched a feature on cosmic disasters, the visiting Sherlock Holmes deductive reasoning exhibit, and the planetarium show narrated by Rupert Grint. Here are a few photos:

It was Carnival Science Day at the Maryland Science Center, so there were jugglers, tightrope walkers, and other performers.

Some clues in the Sherlock Holmes exhibit...

...which also has features on Conan Doyle and his interest in spiritualism.

We visited the Maryland crabs...

...and went to see the giant animatronic crab.

Our kids are no longer so excited by the make-a-tornado and make-clouds science exhibits.

Paul studies a savannah monitor lizard...

...who serves as an example of dino-like animals in the dinosaur exhibit.

After dinner we watched the Tony Awards, though we haven't seen any of the shows and given how many involve shrill kids, I'm not sorry -- not even Jane Lynch could make me want to see the Annie revival. (Some of the live singing was so off-key that it left my mystified where all the Russell Crowe hate came from -- he's way better than that woman from Matilda). My favorite moment was at the beginning, when Neil Patrick Harris said, "Can I have my Tom Hooper Les Mis close-up?"

Even when I haven't seen any of the shows, there are always some great moments -- Judith Light, Cicely Tyson (whose dress should win an award too), Kinky Boots and the actor from it who won, The Phantom of the Opera, Cyndi Lauper's understated "True Colors" during the memorial montage, women winning two directing categories, men thanking their husbands.